We've Hit the Ground Running!

It seems as though we blinked and these past two weeks were gone! We are loving our new school year and all of the new friends we are making. The children have been busy with their portfolios to prepare for curriculum night. We have also been getting to know all of our classmates really well. 

Last week the children brought in their "All About Me" bags. Each child had an opportunity to share all of their favorite things with the class. It was so much fun to listen and learn about our friends. The children brought in pictures of their family, favorite snacks, favorite activities, etc. The children were also asked a question of the day about their favorite things. We now know so much about everyone which makes our heart happy! 

On to this week! Did you know that there is a special shape inside of an apple? We cut an apple open to see and sure enough there was a star! Have you ever seen the star inside of an apple? All you have to do is turn an apple on its side and cut across the middle! This week, the group was introduced to apples as part of our fall unit! The children learned about the parts of an apple (skin, flesh, stem, core and seeds aka pips!). The children made yummy apple sauce taking turns to use the hand crank apple peeler. Everyone got a taste after the apple sauce cooled down. 

Lastly, our classroom Shutterfly share site is now live. Everyone received an invite via email earlier today. Check it out and look for monthly updates! Enjoy seeing the children busy at play! 

What's Up Next:
Next week we will continue with the fall theme while touching on the "all about me" theme from September with studies on bones! What are bones? Where can you find bones? How do bones help us? Are just a few questions we will be exploring next week!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

October 2: October tuition is due
October 9: SEE closed in observance of Columbus Day
October 17: Curriculum Night for the pre-K and preschool groups - see Evite for more details and to RSVP!
October 29: Halloween Trunk-or-Treat! See Evite for more info!
October 31: Happy Halloween! Costumes will be allowed at school 
November 1: November Tuition is due
November 10 : SEE closed in observance of Veteran's Day
November 22: SEE closing at 3pm 
November 23-24: SEE closed for Thanksgiving

Pictures from the week:

Apple Printing!

Peeling apples with a hand crank peeler is so much fun!

Working on portfolios! Check out this family portrait!

I hope everyone has enjoyed the warm week we've had! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you all on Monday!
Joanna

Welcome Back, Students!

After a whirlwind of a summer, we are back in action for another fun-filled school year! Last Tuesday was our first day of school and we were very excited to greet our returning friends and welcome in our newest friends. Our newly promoted Pre-K students entered the classroom with a new sense of pride as they began their final year of preschool. I just have to say that this was one of the smoothest transitions to preschool we have had and I do believe I have the Pre-K kiddos to thank as they took our new friends right under their wing! Today ends week two of the 2017/2018 school  year and we could not be happier to have a classroom full of chatter and laughter! 

The children spent last week exploring the classroom and settling back into a routine all while learning about their new friends. This  past week we dove right into portfolios to see how much everyone has grown in the past year. The children also had the opportunity to share a few of their favorite things from home. The children attentively listened to each classmate present their favorite things to the group. And finally, we welcomed Mr. Ed back to our classroom and we all had a blast singing and dancing along to his familiar tunes. 

Have you heard about our "Good Citizen" Jar? A good citizen helps friends in the classroom, helps during cleanup time, helps keep our art supplies tidy, etc. Every time a teacher catches a student begin a good citizen, they get a gem to place in the jar. Once the jar is filled with gems, the students will have a pajama party at school! Everyone is so excited to fill the jar with gems that our classroom has been exceptionally tidy lately :) We are off to a great start! 

Don't forget about our Little Free Library!
Have you gotten a chance to visit our Little Free Library? It's located just outside the front door to the building near the picnic table. Take a look and see what is there! Please remember that the LFL is run on a take a book/leave a book system. You are also welcome to borrow a book are return it when you are done. The idea is to keep books circulating around the community.  Our LFL is looking to all of you for your generous donations! If you have books to donate, we are especially looking for children's book (board books are ok too!). Teen and adult books are always welcome as well! If you would like to label them with our LFL labels before adding them to the library please drop them off with the teachers and we will happily add them to the library for you. Thank you all for your support!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

September 24: Karate class at Rising Storm Training Academy - see Evite for more details and to RSVP!
October 2: October tuition is due
October 9: SEE closed in observance of Columbus Day
October 17: Curriculum Night for the pre-K and preschool groups - see Evite for more details and to RSVP!
October 29: Halloween Trunk-or-Treat! More info coming soon! 
November 1: November Tuition is due
November 10 : SEE closed in observance of Veteran's Day
November 22: SEE closing at 3pm 
November 23-24: SEE closed for Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has had a great first two weeks like we've had! We look forward to many more joyful weeks full of curiosity and learning!

Joanna

A Reflection of Another Wonderful School Year!

And just like that, here we are, the last day of school. It has been a wonderful year full of learning, friendships, explorations and discoveries! We feel so lucky to have spent the last year with an amazing group of kiddos. We are also thankful for the amazing team of teachers who are nothing less than incredible. I call them all super heroes because that is in fact what they should really be called! These teachers created a school year full of curiosity, wonder and excitement for learning. I know for a fact that that is no small feat. It takes a special person to be able to create wonder out of the simplest things in life. I feel truly blessed to have these teachers in my life. 

The month of June has been our busiest month all year. We were practicing daily for our play, creating costumes, feverishly painting backscratchers for father's day (Happy Belated Father's Day! We hope you put those kiddos and backscratchers to good use!) and learning all about metamorphosis! 

The children had a blast learning about our caterpillars. It also worked out perfectly that they were ready to be released as we also said goodbye and good luck to our new kindergarteners.  The children arrived at school each day excited to see how big the caterpillars had grown. It seemed like they had doubled in sized each night. After a few days in the classroom, one by one the chrysalis' formed.  As we waited for our butterflies to emerged we learned the words metamorphosis (the process of transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly inside the chrysalis), chrysalis (the protective casing for which the caterpillar goes through its metamorphosis), and proboscis (the mouth of the caterpillar; used for drinking nectar from flowers and fruits).  It seemed like we waited forever until one day the children discovered that one butterfly had emerged. It took two and a half days until all five butterflies were fluttering all around our butterfly habitat. After eating lots of yummy orange slices and after a chance to observe their beauty, we happily released them into the world. This past Monday, we bid farewell to Ana and Elsa. On Tuesday we said goodbye to Prince Hans (who wanted nothing to do with being released!) and finally, on Wednesday we let Lightening McQueen and Jackson Storm fly free! We wish you all a safe flight - Painted Lady Butterflies are migrators and will fly great distances to be in their preferred location. Isn't nature the coolest?!

I do have to say that the children's end-of-the-year adaptation of "The Hungry Thing" by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler was quite outstanding! Everyone worked so hard to make the show a success! I am always so delighted to see the children shine on stage and that is what it is all about! We also had a blast at our cast party with lots of yummy treats that the families of our school donated (thank you!!) and it was an extra bonus to have Ms. Melissa and her sister, Sarah, face painting!!! We are so grateful for everyone's generosity and a shout out to our awesome neighbors, The Real School of Music, for graciously letting us borrow their stage and auditorium for two days!!!

Lastly, this past week the school year began to wind down with lots of time spend with friends. We asked the children what they most looked forward to this summer and we got some great/silly answers such as "I am going to do lots of cannon balls into the pool," "I am going to watch dolphins swim," and "I can't wait to play in the snow and go skiing!" We are not so sure about the last one but we all hope you find your snowy mountain! 

Don't forget about our Little Free Library!
Our Little Free Library is ready for more books! We need you to help us fill our library up! We are especially looking for children's book (board books are ok too!). Teen and adult books are always welcome as well! If you would like to label them with our LFL labels before adding them to the library please drop them off with the teachers and we will happily add them to the library for you. Thank you all for your support!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

June 30: July tuition is due
July 3-7: SEE closed for Summer Break
July 10- August 29: SEE summer program!
August 1: August tuition is due 
August 30-Septmeber 4: SEE closed for new year prep and Labor Day
September 5: First Day of School! 
September 5: September tuition is due

Some pictures from the last few weeks:

Baby Caterpillars: Day 1

No longer babies: Day 3!

Drinking "nectar" (aka juice) from our proboscis!

The children sang "Let it Go" as Ana and Else Flew away!

The set of "The Hungry Thing"

 And there you have it, year number six has come to a successful end! We look forward to a super fun summer and another wonderful school year this fall! 

Have a restful summer break! We'll see you on July 10th!

Joanna

May Wrap-Up!

It has been a very busy few weeks around here! After we returned from spring break, we jumped right in to play preparations! This year the children will be performing a very silly story, "The Hungry Thing," by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler. The inspiration came from the children's love of rhyming and, of course, all things silly! 

Everyone has been busy learning and practicing their lines, discussing what kind of costumes to make, what the scenery should look like and what kind of props we need to collect.  So far everything is moving along on schedule! We are so excited for everyone to see our play in a few weeks!

In addition to all of the play preparations, the children have been learning about seeds while we prepare for our veggie and herb garden.  We read the story, "One Bean" by Anne Rockwell and we patiently watched our beans sprout a root and a shoot! Once the beans were too big for the plastic bag they sprouted in, they were transfer to the garden on the playground.  The beans are going strong and the pumpkin seeds are also popping up out of the ground! Because of the rain lately, we have seen lots of worms on our playground.  The children have been helping to collect them to add to our garden. Worms are great for gardens because they make tunnels under the dirt that help the roots grow deeper.

We also celebrated Mother's Day! We talked a lot about how wonderful our mommies are and all of the great things they do for us! When asked, "Why do you love your mommy?" the children gave us LOTS of great answers including "because she gives me cool things for my birthday," "because she like my belly button," "Because she gives really good kisses and hugs," and "because she loves me!" We hope all of the SEE mommies had a wonderful Mother's Day and felt like a queen for the day!

Jackson Pollock was our artist of the month for May. The children learned that his nickname was "Action Jackson" and "Jack the Dripper" because he loved to get messy with his art.  The children also learned that Jackson Pollock did not use the nice paintbrushes like we use in our classroom, he mostly used tools like old hard paintbrushes, spatulas, string, turkey basters, sticks and even a bike to ride across his work! The children were simply amazed to find out that art does not aways mean paper and a paintbrush! 

Finally, our Praying Mantis egg finally hatched! The little babies emerged just as we were returning to school after spring break.  Judging by the size of the egg, we didn't anticipate the Praying Mantis babies being as big or as many as there were! After everyone had a chance to check them out, we released them into our outdoor fairy garden! 

The blog may be a little quiet over the next few weeks as we continue to prepare for our play! Stay tuned for an end-of-the-year wrap up in a few weeks!

Don't forget about our Little Free Library!
Our Little Free Library is undergoing some book renovations! We need you to help us fill our library up! We are especially looking for children's book (board books are ok too!). Teen and adult books are always welcome as well! We would like to label them with our LFL labels before adding them to the library so the books can continue to be circulated through the LFL community. All you have to do is drop them in the labeled bin right outside of our door and we will do the rest! Thank you all for your support!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

May 29: SEE closed in observance of Memorial Day
June 1: June Tuition is Due
June 22 and 23: End-of-the-Year Play and party! Each child has a specific performance date which was listed on the invitation that was sent home last week. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
June 30: Last day of the school year!
July 3-7: SEE closed for Summer Break
July 10- August 29: SEE summer program! 
August 30-Septmeber 4: SEE closed for new year prep and Labor Day
September 5: First Day of School! 

Some pictures from the last few weeks:

The children made yarn balls for the birds to help
them make their nests 

We have a new family of baby bunnies living in our bushes! 

Jackson Pollock recreation in action!

The finished product!

Praying Mantis babies!

Costume making!

I hope everyone has a fun Memorial Day Weekend! We'll see you on Tuesday!
Joanna

It's Egg Week!

Last week was yet another busy week! If you ask me, one constant theme in our classroom is BUSY... But always in a happy, meaningful and exciting way!

During our bakery unit, one of our little learners asked, "Where does an egg come from?" And so it began, a unit on eggs! I think the most exciting thing for the teachers is to hear all of the excitement from the children. Across the classroom we have been hearing, "I didn't know alligators/octopuses/etc lay eggs" and "I thought only birds laid eggs!" The classroom was expertly transformed into a learning lab complete with several stations for egg explorations.  The science table is now home to a Praying Mantis nest as well as various egg-to-creature manipulatives for the children to explore the stages of creature development.  Stay tuned for praying mantis updates on Facebook!

In addition to egg explorations, the children were introduced to a new artist of the month, Georgia O'Keeffe! Georgia was an american artist was was considered the "Mother of American Modernism." She is best known for her paintings of enlarged flowers and landscapes however, the children studied and recreated her piece, "Ladder to the Moon" (1958). The children used vibrant watercolors to paint a beautiful, "gradient" sky for their moon. Salt was sprinkled on the wet paint to created stars in the sky and finally a ladder was carefully cut out by each child to add to their picture! The masterpieces will be up on the classroom bulletin board very soon! Stop in to take a look!

What's up next?
Did you know that no matter where animals lay their eggs, whether it is in a tree, in the sand, in the water, on a leaf or in a cave, it is always called a nest?! This week, the children will be leaning about different types of "oviparous animals" (aka animals that lay eggs) and where they make/find their nests.  The children will also participate in an egg drop challenge and experiment with different types of "protective" materials to protect the eggs from a long drop from the roof of the school (if Mrs. M is brave enough to climb all the way up there!). 

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

April 17-21: SEE closed for Spring Break
April 25 & 26: School picture days! Stay tuned for more info!
May 1: May tuition is due
May 29: SEE closed in observance of Memorial Day

Pictures from the Week:

Putting the finishing touches on a masterpiece inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe!

Exploring the stages of chicken egg development

The praying mantis "nest"

Egg experiment in vinegar - if all goes as planned, the vinegar will "eat" the egg shell leaving the squishy, translucent membrane behind so the children can have an insiders view of the insides of an egg 

Exploring the egg stages of various creatures

Comparing the different egg parts raw vs. cooked. Some looked the same while other looked very different!

I hope you all enjoyed our latest blog post! The blog will be taking a brief break for the next 2 weeks. We will be back after spring break! Have a wonderful and relaxing break!
Joanna

The SEE Cafe is Open for Business!

We had such a fun filled week! The classroom was transformed into a cafe complete with cooking station, server station, and fancy tables for our restaurant. Before the cafe opened, we had to "train our staff." We talked about who works in a restaurant and what their role is. The children also practiced walking with a tray - slow and steady!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the fun really began! The teachers cooked up the most delicious waffles and the children took turns being the server. The guests were given a choice of waffles with blueberries, strawberries and/or whipped cream.  On their order sheets, the servers checked off what their guest ordered and prepared the correct order before bringing it out to the table.  The children were absolutely adorable and took their job very seriously! 

After the excitement of the cafe was over, the children were presented with different foods that look the same but are very different. For example, sugar vs. salt and lemon applesauce vs. regular applesauce.  First up was sugar vs. salt. The children were encouraged to use their senses to try and figure out which was which.  The children determined that it looked the same, felt the same and smelled the same. When it was shaken, the children reported that they both sounded like maracas! So our final sense, taste, was used to solve the mystery. Sure enough, our sense of taste was our most useful sense in helping us figure out which was which.  Again, our senses were helpful in helping us figure out which apple sauce was sour and which was sweet. Just like before, our sense of taste was the most useful!

To wrap up the week, the children made ice cream using some very simple ingredients: whole milk, vanilla and sugar plus ice and salt to make the magic happen (aka the chemical reaction!). To practice their new recipe following skills, the children first gathered all of the utensils (measuring cup, 2 ziplock bags), then all of their ingredients and finally, their recipe.  After the ingredients were added to a ziplock bag, the ice and salt were added to the second ziplock.  The ingredients bag was sealed and placed inside the ice "bath." Next step: shake, shake, shake and shake until you can't feel your hands any more (the teachers took over when it got too cold using oven mitts to complete the chilly process - perfect for a snowy morning). Final step: test your creation! It was a big hit in the classroom!

Home Extension Activity:

If you didn't have a chance to visit a restaurant, now is a great time to do so! Your child will be able to see a real restaurant in motion and he/she will be able to place an order with the practice they're had! Also, if you find yourself snowed in tomorrow, why not mix up a batch of vanilla ice cream?! You can also use cream, instead of whole milk, to make an even yummier creation. You can also mix in your toppings before you shake it all up! Yum!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

April 3: April Tuition is due

April 17-21: SEE closed for Spring Break
April 25 & 26: School picture days! Stay tuned for more info!

Pictures from the Week:

Cookin' up some yummy waffles!

Coffee beans were added to the sensory table to make the classroom smell like a real cafe!

Taking an order!

Explaining all of the waffle options

And the ice cream taste test! Everyone agreed it was yummy!

Have a great weekend!
Stay warm and enjoy the last bit of snow that's on its way!
Joanna

Bread Week!

This week was all about bread! The children were also introduced to more kitchen tools and the baking process. The kiddos were cooking up pizzas in the pizza oven and also using it as an oven for cookies, muffins and cakes. Yum! The children enjoyed using the chef hat, oven mitts, aprons and kitchen timer while baking their favorite treats! The timer was a big hit!

Bread week began with explorations of different types of grains. Mrs. M brought in her kitchen grinder and the children had an opportunity to grind up wheat.  The children also got to look at, feel and smell wheat flour, rice flour and oats as they compared the different types of grains that created each flour. When asked about their bread knowledge, the children could easily name different types of bread while some of the children associated bread with meals. For example, one kiddo called out, "spaghetti and meatballs!"

Later in the week, the teachers whipped out the bread maker and made a very yummy loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. The children enjoyed the bread for snack on Thursday. While making our second loaf of bread, we discovered that baking, unlike cooking, is a science. If you don't measure ingredients just right, your recipe will not turn out right. Which is what we discovered when we forgot to add sugar to our bread recipe (it definitely wasn't as full and puffy as our first batch on Wednesday!). But we still gave it a try and it wasn't so bad!

This brought us to our experiment with yeast.  Did you know that it's the yeast that causes bread to not only to rise but it also gives bread those teeny tiny bubbles? To sum it up, yeast "eats" sugar which gives it energy to bubble. By mixing dry yeast, warm water and sugar together, we created, "activated yeast." If you add activated yeast to your bread recipe, the yeast begins to bubble which creates those tiny bubbles inside of a loaf of bread, equaling a bigger, fluffier loaf of bread!  To make a long story short, the children got to observe activated yeast and watched the bubbles form. But the bubbles didn't begin until we added the very important ingredient: sugar!

Finally, the children ended the week with a bread taste test. Everyone got to try cinnamon raisin bread, matzo - a flat bread similar to a thin cracker, Naan - an indian bread which is mainly flat but slightly puffy and a sandwich wrap - flat like matzo but flexible. The favorite of the class was the cinnamon raisin bread with matzo as the close second! Who knew bread came in so many different forms?!

What's up Next?
Bread week snuck in before we turned the classroom into a cafe! Next week, the classroom will undergo a transformation into a cafe for the children to prep, cook, and serve their cafe guests.  Stay tuned for all of the fun!


Home Extension Activity:

Since our classroom will be turned into a cafe next week, consider taking your child out to a restaurant or cafe to see how a restaurant runs.  Who do you see working in the restaurant? Who cooks? Who serves the food? Who takes the money? What does the menu look like? What types of food do they serve? You child will be ready to run our classroom cafe with their new knowledge!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

April 3: April Tuition is due

April 17-21: SEE closed for Spring Break
April 25 & 26: School picture days! Stay tuned for more info!

Pictures from the Week:

Baking pizzas in the pizza oven!

Watching the bread maker spin the ingredients together!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Joanna